At a Marin County Safeway, Nanook of the North Bay noticed new Perrier by Andy Warholbottles, three for $5. The bottles have Pop Art on the front, and Warhol's name. When you look through the glass, you can see Warhol quotes, such as "Pop art is for everyone" and "In the future everybody will be famous for 15 minutes."

Warhol, who was a pro at promotion, would have loved them. But would Rembrandt have sanctioned an image of "Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer" stamped in the wax on a wheel of Edam?

Well, probably yes.

The "Open Canvas" installation on Divisadero over the weekend was a few blocks from home, and I traipsed over to the block between Hayes and Grove twice on Saturday, to watch so many surfaces get covered with art, most made on-site. (A full story will follow later this week.)

The yarn-bomber Olek, however, brought crocheted panels already prepared. On the southeast corner of Grove and Divisadero, she hung five signs in a row, each with one word or symbol adding up to the statement: "$$$$ Won't {heart} You Back."

Around the corner, Jesse Willenbringwas creating perpendicular Edens, wedging $4,000 worth of plants from Farallon Gardens between the security bars on the window of a large garage. Down the street atop a ladder, artist Michael Krousewas hanging air-freshener tags from a scraggly Divisadero Street tree. And across the street from that, Joe Robertswas painting a building front to look like a Portland forest, street-tree leaves mingling with his imaginary ones.

Grand-prize winner Jenny Sharafwas assigned to the front of the Harding Theater, a good space because there was a possibility - although Absolut, which sponsored the project, told all landlords that the art would be removed if they desired - that this art will stay. The landlords have been trying to sell the building; perhaps they think Sharaf's splashes of color - and Kyle Brunel's nearby posters - would gussy up the merchandise.

The art was interesting, the artists enthusiastic. In a Harding Theater office, a roomful of organizers were surrounded by mountains of cameras. There was nothing about this that went unrecorded, and there were more people on the street with cameras than there were with paintbrushes. To me, the best thing about the project was the neighborhood camaraderie. Some shots: http://blog.sfgate.com/sfsnap/2013/08/26.

Saturday was the day freshman students moved into Cal, and as we drove through Berkeley late Saturday night, after the Goat Rodeo Sessions show, the sidewalks were packed with herds of 18-year-old girls in miniskirts and high heels, like giraffes on a savannah. Freed from parental supervision and unburdened as yet by homework and studying obligations, they giggled, gawked, got acquainted with their new town and trolled for mates.

That didn't mean, though, that there weren't plenty of students at the Greek Theatre, where the newcomers had been offered $10-a-pop tickets as a welcome. The fame of the musicians - Yo-Yo Maon cello, Edgar Meyeron double bass, Stuart Duncanon violin, Chris Thile on mandolin and Aoife O'Donovansinging - and the particular musical mashup (including bluegrass Bach) attracted a kids-to-grandfolks audience. The performance left the musicians as well as the crowd euphoric, wildly cheering, drunk with the pleasure of it.

In keeping with that, Ma talked from the stage about the primal joy of performing with pals, and, apparently mindful that a large number of students were present, urged "all of you ... to follow your passions." At a reception later, he beamed and used the p-word again: "This is Berkeley! People use their heads, their hearts, their passions."

Crowds gathered around the musicians and also around the new chancellor, Nicholas Dirks, and his wife, historian Janaki Bakhle. Nearby, former chancellor Robert Birgeneauand his wife, Mary Catherine, who'd come to Cal from the East, said they'd been bitten by the California bug; they'll stay here, in Orinda.

It was Berkeley at its best: academics, students, music lovers and musicians, sharing a bowl of culture and lapping it up together.

Public Eavesdropping

"If I had a home in Sonoma, a boat and a place in Tahoe, I'd be set."

Woman in her 20s to woman in her 20s, overheard at a Giants game last week by Michael Coats